IMPORTANCE OF FORETS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 126, 28 May 1881, Page 2

IMPORTANCE OF FORETS.

f.fii ;!ol i '.■■;'. ."( h-o'u^ri) 'Aim rm ;-i.-i-^ ■ iicj/ij, 1 ) ow.oActtflemy}- Coptmfytgtn:-^ ' "^ • co), oXtaatfsj fields, and meadows^ each i^i ' their proper plhcps^ are the' first! spii^ce of;tHe prosperity Ift p6pUlaitidtt ''and j ;tbqy ;iprbHni6 the; i first- tfebefesatiea ! of - .;lifei'i * Whew ; these j three- fcU&natelf itog^theri With t>r lakes; there Willlbefoiind not Only jinoxteibal : lihtomon^ b(th'at> 1 is, i beauty in Mature)! v -but itheret also prevails an internal hitt-;omay-be called the # thriving." Th&iej together . with the -atmosphere, consti•;ttute the main links of the fertile natiire; f -j«J ai whole'; of 1 which tio single parti hmuet;!^ separated. Nfrtiire, ; if left to herself, will know how to >tee ! for t: everything r herself s• ' she '• desfooys ' onlyj i that? Which has senrett its jpiiitfp'ose ; and a • ©fte-,oiii>> in Ihei strictest sense, say -that -nothing is wastedi 'Destroying insects; do ; not appear in ithe Virgin^ foreSfa^ disease in potatoes in their wild state is unknown. Nature turns even the; Sahara of ■ Africa into ; /climatic and; irieteorologicAl . importance for Europe. Jfyit :!with' the n ac | tion^roiTr,^&tii)re Jl he//.;wiil i always .do[ law Of j 'natu'r^.f»d; : if. r hiß intellect does not ;be--Icj^nf£ K f^ co-operating factor that in aj > can^, ; ayert, pr ; compensate > < for \ ( „ey,i| l jcoft^equ^npe9 j , of; hJß:;interfer- ' lencie. -This .constitutes what Wei. call and management* In a more ! limited sense it may bo termed artificial treatment The gff^teßt art., consists Ip, '.' jpii^ting- , jfljid, it^presenting 'her ..in a concentrated and -diminutive >$$typ£Jfpjft $#ppji^bls,;to the fine aris asiweljjjisj,^ the ; more practical art of ' t aj methodical -management of :the • pro--4wtiye,^ur(s .;;^rhp forest can thrive in localities where .agriculture and grazing would not pay, and where consequently the . ground , is made useful through the timber ; but besides this 'the wiU fee improved bye the conatant {bipation .of ; humus* . ' Apart from jth.e.necea.BJty of theforept.products, the twfflfi is ,,V)BtiU of .pie^roiogical and ctim&tic importance, which; must be weir sconaidered by the pgriculturißt , and the j^raz^rji . . QV m g: % •&& height, the large aurfßce to the atmosphere, and the coipl^r ' ( »j}pve , $hp ; tree.s, \ the forest caupes . ifap : , clpwfcl to, -'sink ■ (attracts |j*em)' ap4 to.come down as xajn j at the came; time, it, moderates; the. ,heat of. the ann.,,^k*,fQvqßt u frhQ, through its |iei^|it r ftn4;its,, yielding, surface, serves a^'aj|iejter against cool, dry, or (Stormy wiaqs^ whilat at the same tiqse the: large green surface of the forest during, thq night e^ts comparatively much lieat, whereby the night-frost and cool miafc are abated. , Because of the formation ;of ; ' ' carbonic , acid which • takes ; pUce |n, the humus, the water, running from a forest wftich, stands ; on elevated gi;ou^d r ,will convey , to the ; gullies and lo^jamjs mmj mineral substances in asolutl^ pd ; consequently. 4tting conaition fp^t^Bj . Vjegetajtion. . . I!he slowly adyanc)ng iiputrefactjoq, of vegetative) substances, ipfluenced , <hy ; a moderate humidity forms the fertilising humus. The' BnißbWUSing' important as an indirect source, tof the organic constituents of plants is.]^ \X^i indispensable constituent of. a'jfertijle soil. . Its dark cblpr is Jfra^fng t and it confers on the soi^ the powpr of sorting; .and ,retain« ing •water, and thus diminishes . its ten T acity. Thft '9^9? ,0^ the and the pxyg^n j^f the atmosphere form car-/ bon^c. ,ieldj wHich partly, serves the vegetation ; as immediate, nourishment,; partly 'seryes as means for, conveying mineralic substances dissolved in water as food for the plants. The formation of this important humus, only takes place in the, »hade and under the influ- | , etiice '; of modjerate humidity .; if these j are taken ajyay, the Humus and, the 1 formation of, humus are lost. But the forest has yet other beneficial qualities. Cbmmohly spoken, valleys and fiats are the locaiitiei for agriculture and grazing. 'Now, if thie, ; surrounding moun-r tains or hills are 1 strapped of ,^;he .bush, the lovirey piacps will not, as , formerly, receive the sun's rays .reflecting from a cool' and , absorbing . suriface j but the ra^sa^e now reflected in their full intensity from the bald surface of the eurroundlag /slopes* , I^he wheat will now t)e mqre expose^ to rust, the barley more to blighting^ and the pastures,! more to drougli^ l^io groat -nattrre is •wpMcing./lifa,^- through fluciuafiQft aud circulation ; an^ $3 the,

blooc( is , the great circulator and pro*, niote'rof vital power in the body, so is the Water .the blood of the great body bf bur globe, and : thie forest is her pqwerful respiratory organ that always keeps her veins filled with fresh and renewed blood. Would that be of nocon r sequence if we were to cut this organ out of the bbdy ? In the human body we measure the strength of a certain part not by the congestion of blood that at a certain time takes place, but by the regular and gentle fluctuations Of healthy blood into the part, all : other r things being equal. • So, in judging of meteorological and climatic effects, we cannot go by floods or the mere height of the water in waterhdles and creeks. r I own that there are instances where' the water in waterholes and creeks will stand higher after a iiieighborihg- busU has been cleared, •sespecially if the trees did not give a > snnlcient shade to the water ; and this i hmy easily mislead men id their judgment; but this is neither proof; of the - fertility of the ' country ! nor ; Of the amount' of rain that has fallen— it only proves that the water that formerly was detained in the" ground and absorbed j by the and the roots , of the trees, which again through their folii age dispelled the water into the air, that this water >mor,e freely runs into itsb'eds. : As before^ mentioned> it is i not' through' stag;naticy> ,bot! through I circulatibn, that water shall >make fain. I It is very good of course; to have drinkI ing water in the creek ; we are, however, not devoid of artificial means for procuring this, • but we are quite at a loss when we are called upon to make rain. In some instances it ' also may happen that a flat which : formerly was dryi now, aftdr the bush' has been destroyed, proves to 1 be swampy, or even boggy ; but this neither- proves that destroying the forest tends to promote an equal arid sufficients distribution, of water. .These' phenomena much depend onthe nature and the site of the layers of the underground. If such a layer' happens tot be compact and somewhathorizontal, that water which formerly was absorbed ; through: the trees •is now left in the ground, with no , chance to sift through the layer, and I withonly: scanty means for its outlet. !If the surface of this i underlayer exhibits a cavity,! that will, . of course, • make the ground appear yet more wet. ! On. the banks of risers, and creeks, i where the layers coinmbnly are sloping '■ towards the waterbed, and in all locali- ; ties where the nature and tlie position lof the layers do not prevent the water from shifting—- in all such places the destruction of the forest will have the reverse effect on tlie ground: it will make it drier than, it was before, be- : cause of the Want of shade, the destruction of the water-absorbing humus, and the discontinued process , in . the roots) attracting the water like so many capillary tubes. This shows that the forest also is a great means for equally distributing the moisture in the ground. Commonly spoken, the forest prevents high places from getting 100 dry, and low places from getting swampy* The gradual, origination of primeval forests in the prehistoric time took. place under quite other circumstances than those in which we live now j and ,as I do not bean to say that there would be no rain at all if we destroyed all the forests, so it would much less be right to put forward a false- argument like this : "To destroy the forest is to stop the rain, how may then all the forests have originated > when, there ought to have been.no rain to bring them?" The question concerning the protection of the forests has been raised at all times and in all cultivated countries ; DUt it has alwayp been rather too late — because the greater part of the influential public are commonly against the protection only for its being against their private interests. The decision of this question Tests naturally with the body which- is elevated above all private interests — that body whose pye ought to see deeper into the present and further into i the future than any other. I mean the 1 Government. . The forest has already had two great enetnies-— the insects and the landowners. ' The private individual simply appreciates things according to what momentous benefits they may bring. But a mistake on this subject is not easily redressed. ■• If the destruction of the forests has gone too : .fijir, it Will take many years and much njwney for bringing them forward again;

\ and sometimes one will not- succeed at all in it. It is especially in the mountains and rocky regions where the greatest difficulties in reproducing the destroyed forest is experienced; and this is so much worse* as such localities are the least adapted to any other produce. Knowing the importance of the subject and the difficulty of an impartial judgment where such large private interests are concernedj I have undertaken to address the public ; and though having intended to give only a short sketch of the importance of the forests, I still hope that I, in these few lines, have spoken in a comprehensible manner in defence of the integrity of one of the grandest links in the great chain of creation*